Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The McKinleyville boys and Arcata girls were crowned Dick Nicholai Tournament champions last weekend before tipping off the North Coast Section basketball playoffs earlier this week. Hello and welcome to this week's KMUD News Sports Report. I'm Ray Hamill with Humboldt sports.com we'll have much more on the two exciting Nikolaj Finals in just a moment as we take a look at all of the big local sports stories of the week, including all the NCS basketball news for the week and a look ahead to this weekend's playoff action, some college basketball news and all the latest on the local college baseball and softball teams. But first up, a packed house at Lumberjack arena was treated to two exciting Dick Nicholai Tournament championship games last Friday night. The girls final got the night's action underway with Big five rivals Arkeda and Eureka facing off for the coveted trophy. And it was a good night for the Tigers who ended an eight year wait to add to their record tally of tournament trophies.
[00:00:58] Holding on late for a 6460 win, the Tigers trailed by eight midway through the third quarter but would close out the period on a 171 run to take control and they never trailed again. The tournament title is the 12th all time for the program, which is the most by any HDNL team, boys or girls, and it secured a Big 5 and Nikolai championship double for head coach Charlie Espinosa's team. In the boys final, Big 5 champs McKinleyville played Little 4 champs St. Bernards and they they led for much of the night on the way to a 6853 win. The tournament championship is the second straight for the Panthers and their third in four years and it capped an impressive HDNL season for the team which also won a first ever outright Big five title. After the excitement had died down on Friday, the league teams turned their attention to the North Coast Section playoffs which got underway earlier this week. The brackets and seeds were announced on Sunday afternoon and 13 HDN teams made the field. The playoffs began on Tuesday with seven HDNL teams taking the court in Boys Division 5 action. The Loggers won an all local showdown at Eureka High, getting the better of Hoopa 7251 while Arcata hosted Beret and Christian and lost 57 51. The Loggers, who are seated number two in the bracket, will now host number seven Gateway in Friday night's quarterfinals. In Boys Division 3 action, Little Four champs St. Bernards rallied from an early 14 deficit to beat Miramonte in overtime 73 72. The win sets up a double header of playoff action at Saint Bernards on Friday night with the school's boys and girls teams taking the court. The SB boys, who are seated number three in their bracket, will host number six College park in their quarter final while the Saint Bernards girls will open their playoff campaign on the same night after receiving the top seed and an opening round bye in the Division 3 girls tournament. The number one seeded Crusaders will host number eight Liberty in their quarter final in girls playoff action on Tuesday, two HTNL teams were involved in the Division 1 bracket, the number 3 seeded Arcata girls hosted number 14 Camp Olindo and won 48:37 while number 12 Eureka traveled to the Bay Area to play number 5 Alameda and lost a close game 57:56. The Tigers will now play number 11 Pinole Valley in their quarter final on Friday night in the Division 3 three girls bracket on Tuesday, number 10 Del Norte traveled to play number 7 Jessie M. Bethel and lost 49 41. The playoffs continued on Wednesday with four more HDNL teams in action. In the boys Division 6 bracket, the number 7 seed Ferndale Wildcats hosted Rio Lindo Adventist and posted a comfortable 8240 victory to extend their season. On Saturday, the Little Four School will travel to play number two seed Mendocino, which had an opening round by the Del Norte boys also have advanced to the section quarterfinals after a 5451 win over Head Royce in Crescent City. The warriors, who are seated number eight in their bracket, will play their quarter final at number one San Marin on Saturday night at seven. In Division 2 boys action on Wednesday, the McKinleyville Panthers hosted El Cerrito and lost 5953 to end a memorable season for the team and rounding out the opening round games for HDN teams in Division 2 girls action on Wednesday, the fourth Fortuna Huskies lost their game against Moreau Catholic in Hayward, falling 72:36. The Ferndale girls also have qualified for the NCS playoffs and received the number two seed and an opening round bye in the Division 6 bracket. The Cats will tip off their playoffs at home against number seven Mendocino on Saturday night at seven after the Cardinals took care of business in their playoff opener against San Francisco Waldorf winning 41:24. Also in action in the NCS playoffs this week, the the Ukkaya Boys lost 58:44 to Alhambra, the Fort Bragg Boys fell 61:41 to Redwood Christian, the Point arena boys beat Trinity Prep 80 to 20, the Ukiah girls lost 4941 against Maria Carrillo and the Anderson Valley Girls beat Brave Christian44:39 in local college basketball. Both College of the Redwoods teams closed out conference play with victories over Lassen on Monday. The CR women got the day's action started with a 7557 win before the men followed with a 7760 victory. Both CR teams finished 82 and in second place in the Golden Valley Conference as they get set for the playoffs which tip off next week. Bodkau Poly Humboldt teams were also in action over the weekend, hosting San Francisco State. The Humboldt women won 6153 and secured a place in next month's conference tournament with four games remaining in the regular season while The Humboldt men won 7260 to end a four game losing streak. The women are now 144 in conference and tied for third while the men are 117 in conference and also sit third in the standings. Both Humble teams will play at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday afternoon and rounding out a busy week in local sports, the College of the Redwoods baseball team went 13 in four games at Los Medanos last week, losing game 1198 before bouncing back to take game 251 and then dropping games 3 and 4126 and 6 5. Redwoods is now 211 in the season. The sea or softball team was also in action traveling to American river for a pair of games and losing both 123 and 13 1. The Redwoods women are now 58 and 1. The Cal Poly Humboldt softball team closed out a six game trip to Hawaii with a doubleheader split against Chaminade on Saturday, winning game 182 and losing game 29 5. The Jacks are now 59 on the season and that's this week's KMUD News Sports Report. Until next time, I'm Ray Hamill with humblesports.com.
